How to Control Pour-Over Temperature for El Salvador Los Pirineos Coffee & How to Taste El Salvador Coffee

El Salvador Chalatenango, Finca Los Pirineos: Natural Bourbon

El Salvador Los Pirineos Estate Natural Bourbon

Floral notes, berries, red wine, bright fruit acidity, rounded mouthfeel

• Origin: Chalatenango, El Salvador
• Variety: Bourbon
• Processing Mill: Finca Los Pirineos
• Altitude: 1400 meters
• Processing Method: Natural
• Harvest & Processing Time: 2017
• Roast Level: Light

El Salvador is a small coffee-producing country in Central America, so it seems only natural that it could turn out micro-lots. Historically, though, most of the country's coffee was blended and delivered to processing mills with little separation or differentiation. The rise of specialty coffee there has pushed many producers to single out individual varieties and to experiment with grading and processing in order to reach buyers and earn better prices, yet small growers still struggle to access those same resources.

The grower behind this lot, Mr. Gilberto Baraona, is known for cultivating a range of high-quality varieties, proof that the classics still have a home here. Bourbon and Pacamara are the two main varieties at Los Pirineos, and he builds diversity into his output through exacting cherry processing. The washed coffees here use more refined methods, washing the beans several times before they ever reach the drying beds to secure cleanliness in the cup. He has also fully developed natural and honey-processed coffees, including this natural lot that we sourced from the estate.

Roasted light, this coffee opens with delicate florals and settles into berries and red wine. Behind the bright fruit acidity, it drinks rounder and naturally smooth.

How to Brew El Salvador Coffee Well: Los Pirineos Estate Natural Bourbon

FrontStreet Coffee pour-over reference: weigh 15g of [Los Pirineos Estate Natural Bourbon] and grind to a medium setting. The particles should be slightly coarser than table salt; we use a BG grinder setting of 5R (60% standard sieve pass rate), water at 89°C, and a V60 dripper.

Pour the hot water from a gooseneck kettle in circles, keeping the stream centered on the middle of the dripper and starting the timer as you begin. Within 15 seconds, brew up to 30g and stop. At the 1-minute mark, pour the second stage, again in clockwise circles centered on the dripper, keeping the stream off the point where the coffee bed meets the filter paper so you avoid channeling.

Leave one ring of space before reaching the outermost edge of the grounds, then circle back toward the center. At 2 minutes and 20 seconds, brew up to 220g and the pour-over is done.

Japanese-Style Ice Pour-Over: Los Pirineos Estate Natural Bourbon

FrontStreet Coffee ice pour-over [Los Pirineos Estate Natural Bourbon] reference:

El Salvador coffee [Los Pirineos Estate Natural Bourbon], light roast, BG grinder setting 5M (67% standard sieve pass rate).

20g of grounds, 150g of ice, 150g of hot water. The water should sit 1°C above the normal pour-over recommendation of 89°C, so use 90°C. For a normal grind, a Fuji grinder setting of 3.5 works; for ice pour-over, grind half a notch finer at Fuji setting 3.

Bloom with 40g of water for 30 seconds.

Pour in stages: 60g of water first, then 40g. Keep the column relatively fine but tall, and stir firmly so the bed rolls fully, without letting the water level rise too high or touch the filter paper at the edges.

Total extraction should take about 2.5 minutes, close to the normal brew time for 20g of coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

A natural Bourbon from El Salvador lands in the same fruit-and-wine territory as a good natural Ethiopian, which makes the FrontStreet Ethiopia Huakui a rewarding comparison. Expect the tropical side of that family, from strawberry and passion fruit through to jackfruit and lychee, with pronounced sweetness and almost no bitterness. If you would rather have a more lifted, floral cup, the FrontStreet Panama Emerald Estate Red Label Geisha is the counterpart to reach for, carrying jasmine, citrus and bergamot over a clean black-tea finish. Either makes a natural next step from a Los Pirineos-style natural lot.